The first annual meeting of the Luton and district branch of the Discharged Soldiers and Sailors Federation was held at the new temporary offices in Church Street on Saturday evening [May 4th, 1918].
Mr H. W. Booth presided and expressed gratification at the splendid progress of the branch since its formation. He said they had over 300 members, and the membership was increasing rapidly.
He presented the accounts, which show that they had collected in local works etc £15 10s, and individual donations were £4 12s. After payment of expenses, amounting to over £65 thay had a balance in hand of nearly £50, mainly due to the excellently organised concert held recently. In addition they had the regular contributions coming in.
Reporting on the propaganda work, Mr Ellingham said that seven members had been elected as a committee. They held a meeting at Dunstable, by which they got 12 members and formed a new branch there. They had various schemes in hand, including the showing of slides at cinema houses, for which they were negotiating. They were also selling postcards to aid the funds.
At present the efforts of the Committee were devoted solely to Luton. They were going along in full swing.
Mr Rudd nominated Mr Booth as Chairman, but Mr Booth explained that he was appointed Chairman of the London and Home Counties Divisional Council, which he regarded as an honour for the Luton branch. Any services he could render he had always gladly given to discharged men, but he had much work to do on the Divisional Council. He would always retain membership of the Luton branch, but asked that he might relinquish the chairmanship.
Mr Suttle nominated Mr Rudd, and paid a tribute to Mr Booth's work. The nomination being unanimously accepted, Mr Rudd took the chair amidst applause. He said he had not sought the position, but every man should do what he could. If the work was worth doing it was worth doing well.
On the proposition of Mr Suttle, Mr Cooper and Mrs W. J. Hawkes were elected Joint Hon Secretaries, owing to the amount of work to be done. Mr Booth was re-elected Hon Treasurer, and expressed pleasure in accepting the office.
There were several nominations for the Vice-Chairmanship, and the voting resulted in the election of Mr W. Clay. The ballot for the Committee resulted in the following elections: Messrs Burgess, Ball, H. S. Smith, Walker, Nicholson, Hoar, Wheewall, Pedrick, Ellingham, Wells and Hoy. It was decided to leave the formation of the sub-committee to the general committee.
The Chairman and Mr Booth were appointed delegates to the annual general meeting of the Federation on May 25th and 26th at Northampton.
the Chairman said that some insurance companies were exploiting the pensions of discharged men they were employing, and he asked that any information of such instances should be given to the branch.
Several other matters were dealt with, and a vot of thanks to the officials for their work during the year was passed.
[The Luton News: Thursday, May 9th, 1918]